2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

BSCER: Capacity Building for Developing a Troubleshooting Learning Environment

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session I

Troubleshooting is a pervasive challenge in engineering practice, yet few validated learning frameworks explicitly target the development of troubleshooting expertise. This NSF-funded Building Capacity for STEM Education Research (BCSER) project aims to design a learning environment that cultivates adaptive troubleshooting skills, framing troubleshooting as a diagnosis-solution problem type.
During Year 1, we investigated the key cognitive competencies underlying successful troubleshooting. We conducted in-depth interviews with 18 engineers, each with over 10 years of industrial (n=14) or academic research experience (n=4), to examine how they perceive and manage complexity in troubleshooting. The experts’ reflections revealed four primary categories of complexity, including system representation, information ambiguity, situational, and stakeholder types. Our analysis further showed how experts draw on prefigurative schemas to regulate knowledge types and reasoning strategies when addressing complex, ill-structured problems.
We further examined experts’ reasoning processes using think-aloud problem-solving protocols focused on specific complexity categories. From these findings, we developed a conceptual model of troubleshooting expertise and identified the initial design elements for a learning environment that supports adaptive reasoning and knowledge flexibility in complex problem contexts.

Authors

Prof. Ahmet Can Sabuncu http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-7905-421X Worcester Polytechnic Institute [biography]

I hold a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering and am currently a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. My research focuses on engineering education, particularly on problem solving in ill-structured domains, problem typologies, and the role of complexity in learning. I investigate how digital and AI-supported learning environments can be designed to foster adaptive expertise in engineering practice. My work also explores innovation in engineering product design and the integration of entrepreneurial mindset into engineering education. Through both research and teaching, I aim to bridge foundational engineering knowledge with real-world problem-solving practices.
Dr. D. Matthew Boyer http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4191-260X Clemson University [biography]

Dr. Boyer is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering and Science Education and an Educational Proposal Writer in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences.
Dr. Karen A High Clemson University [biography]

Karen High, Ph.D., is a professor of Engineering and Science Education (ESED) at Clemson University. Prior to Clemson, High pursued technical and educational research as a chemical engineering professor at Oklahoma State University for 24 years. She has been active in educational research and initiatives for over her entire career. High has garnered more than $12 million in research funding, has written more than 100 peer- reviewed publications, and delivered more than 280 presentations and workshops on both chemical engineering and STEM educational research. She has mentored more than 40 graduate students and 50 undergraduate students in chemical engineering and STEM education research. Her current work focuses on student and faculty development and mentoring as well as student success in Calculus. High has held a variety of administrative positions: Clemson - Director of STEM Faculty Development Initiatives, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences (CECAS); Oklahoma State - Interim Director of Student Services, Coordinator of the Women in Engineering Program, and Director of the Measurement and Control Engineering Center. She currently serves as the Inaugural Director of the Clemson Center for Transformational Mentorship at Clemson.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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